Shell will build 80 high-power EV charging stations across Europe

This year, Royal Dutch Shell has put more of a focus on EVs, adding charging stations to a handful of its UK gas stations and acquiring NewMotion -- a Netherlands-based company with 30,000 charging points to its name. Now, as Reuters reports, Shell has committed to building 80 high-power charging stations throughout Europe by 2019.

The plan is in partnership with IONITY -- an EV-focused venture between BMW, Daimler, Ford, Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche that was announced earlier this month. IONITY aims to launch 400 high-power charging stations across Europe by 2020.

For EVs that can handle a 350 kW charging rate, the high-power stations will be able to charge them in just five to eight minutes. Some of the major concerns that limit both how many people buy EVs and how far they're willing to travel with them are long charging times, too few charging stations and battery limitations. Shell and IONITY's charging station expansion begins to address those first two issues. As for the last one, carmakers like Porsche and Honda already have vehicles in the works that can take advantage of these high-power charging stations.

Shell's 80 stations will be built in Belgium, the UK, France, the Netherlands, Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.